OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former President Donald Trump announced that he has accepted an invitation to a fourth debate against President Joe Biden from NBC/Telemundo, but there is no guarantee that it will happen.
“I have accepted a fourth Presidential Debate against Crooked Joe Biden, this time with NBC & Telemundo. It is important as Republicans that we WIN with our Great Hispanic Community, who Biden has devastated with Crippling Inflation, High Gas Prices, Crime in our Streets, and Border Chaos,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, which was cross-posted to the X platform as well.
“This Fourth Debate will go along with our previously accepted Presidential Debates on CNN, ABC, and Fox. This is all in addition to our accepting an invitation from Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum of Fox News to host the Vice Presidential Debate at Virginia State University, or another venue, in Virginia, to be named later. These are the Debates that Voters have been asking for, and these are the Debates that Voters will get!” he added.
However, the Biden campaign has only agreed to a pair of debates: June 27 on CNN and September 10 on ABC.
On Wednesday, the Biden campaign declined an invitation for a third debate hosted by Fox News, after Trump had already agreed to participate in a CNN debate. It is also not expected that Biden will accept the invitation to the NBC/Telemundo debate.
“President Biden made his terms clear for two one-on-one debates, and Donald Trump accepted those terms. No more games. No more chaos, no more debate about debates,” a Biden campaign spokesperson said last week.
Trump has demanded Biden take a drug test before the two face off in a series of debates, but the president has yet to respond. During a speech at the Minnesota Republican Party’s Lincoln Reagan Dinner in St. Paul, Minnesota, he said he wants the president to take a drug test before the debates.
“No, I have fake Jake Tapper of CNN. And they, they said, ‘Do you want to debate this guy?’ But, you know, and I’m going to, I’m going to demand a drug test here, by the way. I am. No, I really am. I don’t want him coming in like the State of the Union. He was high as a kite. I said, ‘Is that Joe up there?’ A beautiful rope. And by the end of the evening, he’s like, well, it was exhausted. Right now, we’re going to demand a drug test,” the former president said.
On Wednesday, Biden challenged the former president to a debate after months of Trump challenging him.
“Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020,” he said. “Since then, he hasn’t shown up for a debate. Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal. I’ll even do it twice.”
After Trump said he was in, Biden said in a post on X that he “received and accepted an invitation” from CNN for a debate on June 27. “Over to you, Donald. As you said: anywhere, any time, any place,” Biden wrote.
When asked for a comment, Trump told Fox News Digital that he would accept the invitation and “will be there.” The Republican added that he is “looking forward to being in beautiful Atlanta.”
The proposal, initially detailed by the Biden-Harris campaign in a letter to the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates on Wednesday morning, moves away from the longstanding tradition of three fall debates organized by the commission.
Following the announcement, Trump told Fox News that he would agree to the incumbent Democrat’s proposed timeline.
